Fair Wisconsin is a grassroots organization opposed to the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions in Wisconsin and to define marriage as being exclusively between a man and a woman.,”Along with Marquette workers, cell phone providers and bank employees hawking promotions, Fair Wisconsin petitioners greeted the class of 2010.

Fair Wisconsin is a grassroots organization opposed to the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions in Wisconsin and to define marriage as being exclusively between a man and a woman.

Voters will decide on the issue in the Nov. 7 general election.

The group, whose slogan is "Fair Wisconsin Votes No," was aiming to educate new students on the proposed amendment.

The Fair Wisconsin volunteers were located outside the Alumni Memorial Union near Schroeder Hall on Wednesday, which is university-owned property, according to Mark McCarthy, assistant vice president and dean of the Office of Student Development.

Since Fair Wisconsin does not have a student group recognized by the university, the organization would have had to obtain permission from OSD to pass out pamphlets and ask people to sign petitions.

"They have to reserve space unless they use off-campus space, in which case they'd have to abide by city regulations on protests," McCarthy said.

Fair Wisconsin did not contact OSD for permission to demonstrate on Marquette property, according to McCarthy.

Rachel Strauch-Nelson, the press secretary for Fair Wisconsin, said volunteers were at Marquette on freshman move-in day to talk to students about the proposed amendment and its potentially far-reaching consequences.

"There's a lot of young people interested in defeating the civil union and gay marriage ban," Strauch-Nelson said.

A freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences and volunteer with Fair Wisconsin, who asked that her name not be used, wore a Marquette T-shirt as she approached students outside the AMU. She did not think she was misrepresenting the university by wearing the T-shirt while petitioning for Fair Wisconsin.

"It more or less shows that there are students on campus that are against (the amendment)," she said.

The freshman said she became involved with Fair Wisconsin through the Milwaukee Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center.

Strauch-Nelson said the volunteers wearing Marquette T-shirts were students representing their personal views and were on public property.

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